The struggle of the Venepal workers –
a crucial turning point for the Venezuelan revolution

International solidarity needed

By Jorge Martin

On September 7, 2004, the owners of Venepal, a paper mill in Morón,
Carabobo, in Venezuela, decided to cease their operations and not pay
their 400 workers their wages. This is not the first time something
like this has happened. A year ago the company took the same decision
alleging financial difficulties. At that time the workers decided to
occupy the premises in a bitter eleven-week struggle. Now they are
demanding that the government nationalises the company and puts it
under workers’ control and management. This is an extremely important
struggle which could be crucial for the future of the labour movement
and the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela.

Venepal is one of the main producers of paper and cardboard in
Venezuela and its installations are located in Morón, in the industrial
state of Carabobo. At one point it employed a total of 1,600 workers,
controlled 40% of the national market and was one of the main producers
of Latin America in this sector. But the company’s management allowed
the paper mill to slowly lose market shares and revenues. In April
2002, at the time of the short lived military coup against Chávez, some
of its main shareholders were present at the swearing in ceremony for
the new, illegitimate, “president” Pedro Carmona. During the bosses’
lockout against the Chávez government in December-January 2002-03 the
workers resisted attempts by the employers to paralyse the
installations.

Finally, on July 4, 2003, the company declared bankruptcy and left
600 workers without jobs and owing them large amounts in back wages.
The company had accumulated debts of $100million with the banks (60%
with international banks, Citybank and Chase Manhattan Bank, and 40%
with national banks), and a further $30 million with the Venezuelan
state in unpaid taxes, national insurance contributions, gas and
electricity bills, etc.

Workers’ control

By that time, the revolutionary process that Venezuela has been
living through since 1998 had given the workers enough confidence to
take action to save their jobs. On a number of occasions president
Chávez had called on workers to take over factories if the bosses shut
down operations. After a mass meeting with the participation of the
local communities, the workers decided to occupy the installations and
run them under workers’ control and management. The conflict lasted for
77 days. At the time of the occupation the workers had the support of
Bolivarian MP Iris Varela and even the commander of the local garrison,
General Acosta Carles, was present to guarantee the security of the
workers since Carabobo is a state run by the reactionary opposition.
Rowan Jimenez, a trade union activist and member of the struggle
committee, explains how during the occupation, “the workers organised
production, broke all productivity records and reduced unproductive
waste to a level never seen before” (El Topo Obrero interview,
16/09/04). At that time the workers demanded that the government
transfer legal property of the installations to a worker-cooperative
and that they should organise production. After three long months of
struggle and negotiations finally an agreement was reached. This
included a schedule for payment of back wages, the maintenance of
between 400 and 600 jobs. The paper mill would reopen under its former
owners and the state would invest in it by providing cheap credits.

The workers considered this as a partial victory, particularly
taking into account the fate of other factories that were occupied at
the same time – but they remained vigilant. Alexis Polanco, leader of
the UNT in Morón, was clear in saying that he thought that the
“contradictions with the company will continue and we must go towards a
model in which the workers and the government run the company which
should be state owned” (interview with El Militante,
October 2003) Though there was no formal agreement, the workers,
through the union, established a form of workers’ control. For instance
in December 2003, when the company told them that their wages and
Christmas bonuses would be paid in two instalments, one in December and
the other in January, the workers replied that they would deliver
production in two instalments as well! All decisions taken regarding
production, inventory, hiring and firing, etc., were supervised by the
workers. This was an uneasy truce that could not last.

Multinational asset stripping take over feared

On September 7th of this year, the company again ceased operations
and the workers’ struggle started again. The decision is also linked to
an attempt to get rid of a militant workforce, hand over the company’s
assets to paper multinational Smurfit and transfer production to
Colombia. Smurfit is one of the largest multinationals in the world in
the paper and cardboard sector and has been involved in Venepal before.
The workers fear that this would be a ruthless asset stripping
operation like the one Spanish airline Iberia carried out with
Venezuelan national airline Viasa in the 1990s.

The workers have now taken over the installations and are demanding
nationalisation under workers’ control as the only way forward. On
September 16th a delegation of 100 workers went to Caracas to protest
outside the Ministry of Labour. Edgar Peña, general secretary of the
Union of Paper Industry Workers (SUTIP), affiliated to the UNT,
explained how, “Smurfit has been breaking up the company and taking
over certain parts of it with the idea of taking overall control of
Venepal” (El Topo Obrero interview, 16/09/04).

Uniting the workers with the revolutionary people

The workers are clear about the need to involve the local community
in the struggle to save their livelihood. Morón is a solidly
revolutionary town of about 80,000 people where support for Chávez in
the presidential recall referendum on August 15th reached 73%. The
workers explain how Venepal could be used to benefit the revolution as
a whole. On the one hand by producing paper for the “Misiones”
(Bolivarian government social projects run by the communities) related
to education, the Bolivarian University, etc. But there is more. The
company’s installations include 5,000 hectares of land in Carabobo,
Falcón and Yaracuy, most of it untilled, which the peasants have tried
to cultivate against the wishes of the owners. There are also mills,
abandoned houses, a school, grazing land for cattle, a baseball
stadium, a hotel with a swimming pool, a power station and even its own
airfield. Most of these installations are now standing idle and
abandoned and the workers argue that they should be used as part of the
revolutionary project to the benefit of the people. Land should be
given to the peasant co-ops, the sports and educational facilities used
by the communities, etc.

Edgar Peña, General Secretary SUTIP

For this reason, on September 22nd the workers in struggle organised
a mass meeting with the local Electoral Battle Units (UBEs), the
organisations set up to fight the August 15th presidential recall
referendum and that are now becoming the local organising bodies of the
revolutionary movement. Ten of the local UBEs were present representing
hundreds of organised people. There was a roll call of all the
different UBEs present and their representatives explained to the mass
meeting how many people they could mobilise and how they were prepared
to help the struggle (by providing food, transport, etc). The mood at
the rally was electric. A representative from an UBE said: “we are in a
revolution and this struggle is our struggle. We are fighting for the
workers of Venepal and their families, for the defence of the
revolution and for our country”, a Venepal worker added: “Here we see
the strength of the working class, which is able to unite and mobilise
the whole of the popular forces towards the same aim”.

Alexis Polanco, leader of the UNT in Morón and general secretary of
the workers’ union in the Ferrelca metal factory, called on the
Carabobo UNT to organise a regional march in support of the Venepal
workers. “This struggle must become a rallying banner for the whole of
the revolutionary movement. If Venepal falls into the hands of
multinational Smurfit, jobs will be lost and an enormous amount of
wealth which belongs to the Venezuelan people will be handed over to
this multinational. This goes against the revolutionary project we are
fighting for. The struggle of Venepal is the struggle of all those who
support this revolutionary process, of all the exploited, and we can
win this struggle”.

The next step in the struggle was a march through the streets of
Morón on September 30th. More than 700 people participated and the mood
was one of enthusiasm and confidence. It is clear that the victory of
the revolutionary forces on August 15th, the third major defeat of the
reactionary oligarchy after the April 2002 coup and the December 2002
bosses’ lock out, has had a major impact on the consciousness of the
working class. In Carabobo alone, a state which concentrates a large
share of the country’s private industry, dozens of factories are being
organised in UNT affiliated unions. The most recent example is that of
the workers at the Daimler-Chrysler assembly plant where – after 25
years of mafia type trade unionism of the CTV – 400 workers are setting
up an independent class struggle union.

Organising working class solidarity

On October 6th there was a meeting in Valencia called by the
Carabobo region of the UNT with more than 50 trade union leaders from
the state to discuss organising solidarity with Venepal workers.
Present were union leaders and shop stewards from Coca-Cola, Pirelli,
Trimeca, Venezolana de Pinturas, Ford, General Motors, Proagro
seccional Bejuma, Ferralsa, Owen-Illinois, Tubo Auto C.A., Protinal,
Rodhia and Vicson, together with a delegation of Venepal workers. The
solidarity from other unions was impressive. Ford shop stewards made a
donation of 200,000 Bs, and Owen-Illinois trade union delegates handed
over a cheque for 100,000 Bs. Workers at Venezolana de Pinturas decided
at a mass meeting on October 9th to make a weekly donation to the
hardship fund and oil workers at El Palito refinery agreed to donate
10,000 Bs per worker. Other factories agreed to organise factory gate
collections, and a plan was drawn up to visit all factories organised
by the UNT in Carabobo.

A manifesto was passed at this meeting which calls for the
nationalisation under workers’ control and management of Venepal,
appeals to all UNT affiliated to support the struggle of the Venepal
workers by participating in the mobilisation and raising the necessary
funds to sustain it and it also calls for mass workplace meetings at
all factories to explain the issue and raise weekly donations from all
workers for the hardship fund. The manifesto also rejects the central
government’s negotiations with pro-coup bosses that violate workers’
rights, denounces the complicity of reactionary judges with the
machinations of the bosses and calls for a national solidarity rally at
Venepal on October 16 to discuss how to advance the struggle. Finally
the trade union leaders present called for a national and international
solidarity campaign under the slogan “Nationalisation of Venepal under
workers’ control”.

This is clearly a struggle which will be extremely significant for
the future of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. From the very
beginning the parasitical Venezuelan ruling class has been bitterly
opposed to this revolution, despite the fact that the movement has not
yet touched their private property of the means of production. For
decades they have been completely unable and unwilling to develop the
country in any progressive way and therefore they are aware that a
revolutionary movement to fulfil even the most basic needs of the
masses (health, education, jobs, houses, land) would clash head on with
their control of the country’s economy. And they are right. The
struggle of Venepal workers shows clearly the way forward. In order to
defend and advance the living standards of the masses of the Venezuelan
people, the workers must take over control of the economy, so that it
can be run through a democratic plan to the benefit of the majority of
its people.

The workers are appealing for an international campaign demanding
the nationalisation under workers control of this important industry.

Solidarity messages can be sent to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Presidencia de la República: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ministerio de Trabajo: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fax del Ministerio de la Presidencia: + 58 2122638179
Faxes del Ministerio de Trabajo: + 58 2124084250 y + 58 2124084246
again with copies to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Raise donations from trade union organisation for the hardship fund
of the workers. The best way to send the money is if this is channeled
through the local Hands Off Venezuela campaigns in different countries.
In cases where this might not be possible, donations can be sent
directly to the Venepal
union (SUTIP) bank account: Cuenta de Ahorro 0108-0125-71-0200359704 del Banco Provincial, SUTIP

October 11, 2004

The struggle of the Venepal workers –
a crucial turning point for the Venezuelan revolution

International solidarity needed

By Jorge Martin

On September 7, 2004, the owners of Venepal, a paper mill in Morón,
Carabobo, in Venezuela, decided to cease their operations and not pay
their 400 workers their wages. This is not the first time something
like this has happened. A year ago the company took the same decision
alleging financial difficulties. At that time the workers decided to
occupy the premises in a bitter eleven-week struggle. Now they are
demanding that the government nationalises the company and puts it
under workers’ control and management. This is an extremely important
struggle which could be crucial for the future of the labour movement
and the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela.

Venepal is one of the main producers of paper and cardboard in
Venezuela and its installations are located in Morón, in the industrial
state of Carabobo. At one point it employed a total of 1,600 workers,
controlled 40% of the national market and was one of the main producers
of Latin America in this sector. But the company’s management allowed
the paper mill to slowly lose market shares and revenues. In April
2002, at the time of the short lived military coup against Chávez, some
of its main shareholders were present at the swearing in ceremony for
the new, illegitimate, “president” Pedro Carmona. During the bosses’
lockout against the Chávez government in December-January 2002-03 the
workers resisted attempts by the employers to paralyse the
installations.

Finally, on July 4, 2003, the company declared bankruptcy and left
600 workers without jobs and owing them large amounts in back wages.
The company had accumulated debts of $100million with the banks (60%
with international banks, Citybank and Chase Manhattan Bank, and 40%
with national banks), and a further $30 million with the Venezuelan
state in unpaid taxes, national insurance contributions, gas and
electricity bills, etc.

Workers’ control

By that time, the revolutionary process that Venezuela has been
living through since 1998 had given the workers enough confidence to
take action to save their jobs. On a number of occasions president
Chávez had called on workers to take over factories if the bosses shut
down operations. After a mass meeting with the participation of the
local communities, the workers decided to occupy the installations and
run them under workers’ control and management. The conflict lasted for
77 days. At the time of the occupation the workers had the support of
Bolivarian MP Iris Varela and even the commander of the local garrison,
General Acosta Carles, was present to guarantee the security of the
workers since Carabobo is a state run by the reactionary opposition.
Rowan Jimenez, a trade union activist and member of the struggle
committee, explains how during the occupation, “the workers organised
production, broke all productivity records and reduced unproductive
waste to a level never seen before” (El Topo Obrero interview,
16/09/04). At that time the workers demanded that the government
transfer legal property of the installations to a worker-cooperative
and that they should organise production. After three long months of
struggle and negotiations finally an agreement was reached. This
included a schedule for payment of back wages, the maintenance of
between 400 and 600 jobs. The paper mill would reopen under its former
owners and the state would invest in it by providing cheap credits.

The workers considered this as a partial victory, particularly
taking into account the fate of other factories that were occupied at
the same time – but they remained vigilant. Alexis Polanco, leader of
the UNT in Morón, was clear in saying that he thought that the
“contradictions with the company will continue and we must go towards a
model in which the workers and the government run the company which
should be state owned” (interview with El Militante,
October 2003) Though there was no formal agreement, the workers,
through the union, established a form of workers’ control. For instance
in December 2003, when the company told them that their wages and
Christmas bonuses would be paid in two instalments, one in December and
the other in January, the workers replied that they would deliver
production in two instalments as well! All decisions taken regarding
production, inventory, hiring and firing, etc., were supervised by the
workers. This was an uneasy truce that could not last.

Multinational asset stripping take over feared

On September 7th of this year, the company again ceased operations
and the workers’ struggle started again. The decision is also linked to
an attempt to get rid of a militant workforce, hand over the company’s
assets to paper multinational Smurfit and transfer production to
Colombia. Smurfit is one of the largest multinationals in the world in
the paper and cardboard sector and has been involved in Venepal before.
The workers fear that this would be a ruthless asset stripping
operation like the one Spanish airline Iberia carried out with
Venezuelan national airline Viasa in the 1990s.

The workers have now taken over the installations and are demanding
nationalisation under workers’ control as the only way forward. On
September 16th a delegation of 100 workers went to Caracas to protest
outside the Ministry of Labour. Edgar Peña, general secretary of the
Union of Paper Industry Workers (SUTIP), affiliated to the UNT,
explained how, “Smurfit has been breaking up the company and taking
over certain parts of it with the idea of taking overall control of
Venepal” (El Topo Obrero interview, 16/09/04).

Uniting the workers with the revolutionary people

The workers are clear about the need to involve the local community
in the struggle to save their livelihood. Morón is a solidly
revolutionary town of about 80,000 people where support for Chávez in
the presidential recall referendum on August 15th reached 73%. The
workers explain how Venepal could be used to benefit the revolution as
a whole. On the one hand by producing paper for the “Misiones”
(Bolivarian government social projects run by the communities) related
to education, the Bolivarian University, etc. But there is more. The
company’s installations include 5,000 hectares of land in Carabobo,
Falcón and Yaracuy, most of it untilled, which the peasants have tried
to cultivate against the wishes of the owners. There are also mills,
abandoned houses, a school, grazing land for cattle, a baseball
stadium, a hotel with a swimming pool, a power station and even its own
airfield. Most of these installations are now standing idle and
abandoned and the workers argue that they should be used as part of the
revolutionary project to the benefit of the people. Land should be
given to the peasant co-ops, the sports and educational facilities used
by the communities, etc.

Edgar Peña, General Secretary SUTIP

For this reason, on September 22nd the workers in struggle organised
a mass meeting with the local Electoral Battle Units (UBEs), the
organisations set up to fight the August 15th presidential recall
referendum and that are now becoming the local organising bodies of the
revolutionary movement. Ten of the local UBEs were present representing
hundreds of organised people. There was a roll call of all the
different UBEs present and their representatives explained to the mass
meeting how many people they could mobilise and how they were prepared
to help the struggle (by providing food, transport, etc). The mood at
the rally was electric. A representative from an UBE said: “we are in a
revolution and this struggle is our struggle. We are fighting for the
workers of Venepal and their families, for the defence of the
revolution and for our country”, a Venepal worker added: “Here we see
the strength of the working class, which is able to unite and mobilise
the whole of the popular forces towards the same aim”.

Alexis Polanco, leader of the UNT in Morón and general secretary of
the workers’ union in the Ferrelca metal factory, called on the
Carabobo UNT to organise a regional march in support of the Venepal
workers. “This struggle must become a rallying banner for the whole of
the revolutionary movement. If Venepal falls into the hands of
multinational Smurfit, jobs will be lost and an enormous amount of
wealth which belongs to the Venezuelan people will be handed over to
this multinational. This goes against the revolutionary project we are
fighting for. The struggle of Venepal is the struggle of all those who
support this revolutionary process, of all the exploited, and we can
win this struggle”.

The next step in the struggle was a march through the streets of
Morón on September 30th. More than 700 people participated and the mood
was one of enthusiasm and confidence. It is clear that the victory of
the revolutionary forces on August 15th, the third major defeat of the
reactionary oligarchy after the April 2002 coup and the December 2002
bosses’ lock out, has had a major impact on the consciousness of the
working class. In Carabobo alone, a state which concentrates a large
share of the country’s private industry, dozens of factories are being
organised in UNT affiliated unions. The most recent example is that of
the workers at the Daimler-Chrysler assembly plant where – after 25
years of mafia type trade unionism of the CTV – 400 workers are setting
up an independent class struggle union.

Organising working class solidarity

On October 6th there was a meeting in Valencia called by the
Carabobo region of the UNT with more than 50 trade union leaders from
the state to discuss organising solidarity with Venepal workers.
Present were union leaders and shop stewards from Coca-Cola, Pirelli,
Trimeca, Venezolana de Pinturas, Ford, General Motors, Proagro
seccional Bejuma, Ferralsa, Owen-Illinois, Tubo Auto C.A., Protinal,
Rodhia and Vicson, together with a delegation of Venepal workers. The
solidarity from other unions was impressive. Ford shop stewards made a
donation of 200,000 Bs, and Owen-Illinois trade union delegates handed
over a cheque for 100,000 Bs. Workers at Venezolana de Pinturas decided
at a mass meeting on October 9th to make a weekly donation to the
hardship fund and oil workers at El Palito refinery agreed to donate
10,000 Bs per worker. Other factories agreed to organise factory gate
collections, and a plan was drawn up to visit all factories organised
by the UNT in Carabobo.

A manifesto was passed at this meeting which calls for the
nationalisation under workers’ control and management of Venepal,
appeals to all UNT affiliated to support the struggle of the Venepal
workers by participating in the mobilisation and raising the necessary
funds to sustain it and it also calls for mass workplace meetings at
all factories to explain the issue and raise weekly donations from all
workers for the hardship fund. The manifesto also rejects the central
government’s negotiations with pro-coup bosses that violate workers’
rights, denounces the complicity of reactionary judges with the
machinations of the bosses and calls for a national solidarity rally at
Venepal on October 16 to discuss how to advance the struggle. Finally
the trade union leaders present called for a national and international
solidarity campaign under the slogan “Nationalisation of Venepal under
workers’ control”.

This is clearly a struggle which will be extremely significant for
the future of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. From the very
beginning the parasitical Venezuelan ruling class has been bitterly
opposed to this revolution, despite the fact that the movement has not
yet touched their private property of the means of production. For
decades they have been completely unable and unwilling to develop the
country in any progressive way and therefore they are aware that a
revolutionary movement to fulfil even the most basic needs of the
masses (health, education, jobs, houses, land) would clash head on with
their control of the country’s economy. And they are right. The
struggle of Venepal workers shows clearly the way forward. In order to
defend and advance the living standards of the masses of the Venezuelan
people, the workers must take over control of the economy, so that it
can be run through a democratic plan to the benefit of the majority of
its people.

The workers are appealing for an international campaign demanding
the nationalisation under workers control of this important industry.

Solidarity messages can be sent to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Presidencia de la República: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ministerio de Trabajo: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fax del Ministerio de la Presidencia: + 58 2122638179
Faxes del Ministerio de Trabajo: + 58 2124084250 y + 58 2124084246
again with copies to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Raise donations from trade union organisation for the hardship fund
of the workers. The best way to send the money is if this is channeled
through the local Hands Off Venezuela campaigns in different countries.
In cases where this might not be possible, donations can be sent
directly to the Venepal
union (SUTIP) bank account: Cuenta de Ahorro 0108-0125-71-0200359704 del Banco Provincial, SUTIP